Drilling apparatus



May 16, 1933-. R, D, nouns.

DRILLINC- APPAlwrUs Filed Feb. l, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lllflplllllllll May 16, 1933.

R. D. Demos 1,909,817

DRILLING APARATUS Filed Feb. l, 193D 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 16, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REDUS D. DODDS, oF HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNORl To JAMES o. Domus, or' HOUSTON',

. TEXAS DRILLING APTARATUS 4Applicationled February 1, 1930. Serial No. 425,085.

This invention relates to new and useful im rovements in drilling apparatus.

(gne objectof the invention is to provide apparatus of the character described including a tubular driving stem, commonly known as a drill stem, and a drill associated therewith and of such novel formation that it may be readily attached to the lower end of the stem, for drilling, or detached and withdrawn, all while Vthestem is inthe bore, and without withdrawing said stem.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in vdrilling apparatus a novel type of carrier, for the drill cutters, which may l5 be readily inserted, `with said cutters, through'the stem-while the stem is in the bore, and locked therein with the drill in operative position, ork detached and with,- drawn from the, stem.

A further feature of the invention resides in a novel type of means for releasably locking the drill carrier in the stem.

With the above and other objects in view the invention has particular relation to certain novel features of construction, Operation and arrangement of parts an example of which is given in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l shows a vertical sectional, view of the lower portion of the drilling apparatus, showing the drill locked in operative position in the stem.

Figure 2 shows a vertical sectional view of the upper portion thereof.

Figure 3 shows a vertical sectional view of a type of fishing tool employed for detaching and removing the drill from the, stem.

Figure 4 shows avertic'al sectional view Referring now more particularll'vv to the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate similar parts in each of the figures, the numeral 1 designates a tubular drill stem whose lower end may be slightly flared and provided with the oppositely disposed, vertical, inside grooves 2, 2, which diverge downwardly, said lower end of said stem terminating in the oppositely disposed shoulders, or braces 3, 3 one behind eachl groove. At, or near, its lower end the'SteIn may be provided with an internal annular seat 4. v

There is a tubular carrier 5 whose lower end rests on the seat 4 and is formed solid but is provided with the oppositely disposed, laterally o set, vertical bearings 6, 6, through which the elongated Shanks 7, 7, of the blades, or cutters 8, 8, work. Between the inner edges of said bearings there is the transverse web 9 for a purpose to be hereinafter Stated. lAnchored in the carrier 5 there is a Spider 10 and secured in the upper end of said carrier there is an anchor 11 upstanding from which there is a stem 12 whose uppear end has the. conical shaped head 13.

The shanks of the cutters 8 work on opposite Sides of thev web 9.and are upwardly eir-v tended and crossed and are provided with the inside shoulders 14, 141 positioned` to engage the upper lend of said web, when the drill is collapsed 'to limit" the downward movement of thecutters and to prevent them from falling out incase their shanks should become detached from the links. 15, 15 to which they are connected. The lowerends of these links are connected to the upper .ends of the shanks 7 and the upper ends of` y the links are connected to the lower end of 90 they Sectional tension rod -l6which works through a central` bearingin the spider 10. Seated in said spider and surrounding said rod 16 there is a coil spring 17 whose upper end rests against the lower end of the enlargement 18 on said rod 16. The carrier 5 has the opposed vertical slots 19, 19 through which the Shanks of the cutters work.

Anchored in the carrier 5 and spaced above the spider 10 there is a tubular guide 100 r having the opposed vertical slots 21, 21V

extending downwardly from the upper end thereof and whose upper ends are flared forming the opposing guide points 22, 22,

Pivoted in the upper ends of, and working through, the opposing side slots 23, 23 in the carrier 5, are the depending guide iingers 24, 24, which are normally pressed outwardly by the fiat springs 25, 25.

` The upper end of the tension rod 16 has* a clutch member 26 thereon having the eX- ternal, annular, outwardly flared groove 27 therearound, and there are the clutch arms 28, 28 whose lower ends are pivoted in theA opposing vertical slots 29, 29 in the carriery 5. The upper ends of these arms have the Yinwardly extendino' tapering dogs 30, 30 adapted to lit into the groove 27 of the clutch member 26.

.The Vanchor 11 has the opposing vertical bearings 31, 31 through which the push bars 32, 32 work. y y

. The lower ends of these bars are attached to a head 33 and-.their upper ends carry a conical release member 34 having avertical bearing on lthe Ystem V12. The downward movement of the head 33 is limited by the inside annular shoulder 35 inY the carrier 5 beneath said head, and its upward movement is limited by the external cutter shoulders 38, hereinafter referred to.

Inv use, with the stem 1 in the bore the Ydrill and carrier may be assembled, as shown in Figures 4 and 5-with tie dogs 30 engaged in the groove 27, with the spring 17 under. compression, and with the cutters 8 suspended from the web 9. As thus assembled the carrier 5 and its appendants are let down through the stem 1 and said arms'28 will fit closely within said stein and said dogs 30 will be thereby retained in said groove 27. For the purpose of letting the carrier down through the stem, any suitable device may be used such as opposing hooks 36, 36, which Yare adapted to engage under A the head 13Y and which may be suspended from .a suitable cable.r As the carrier descends the fingers 24 will be guided,by the pointsV 22 into the slots 21 and they will maintain the carrier in kposition to align the cutter. Shanks y ith the grooves 2 in the stem. (When the lower end of the carrier 5 seats on the seat 4 the upper ends of the body.

flared beneath said hoolls.

Shanks 7 will be carried upwardly and forced outwardly by the web 9 and will be seated in the slots 2 with the cutters 8 in front of the respective braces 3 and with the external shoulders 38 of said cutters engaging the lower end of the stem. The upper ends of the clutch arms 28 will now engage underneath the shoulder 37 and be held in such engagement bythe enlargement V18 which' is now located between th'e'dogsV 30 and the carrier wi l be locked by said clutch Y arms against upward movement and by the seat 4 against downward movement.

TWhile 'the apparatus 1s being assembled as above explained the lower end ofthe drill stem should be raised noff of the bottom of the bore when the assembly is complete said stem may be lowered with the drill in contact with the bottom of the bore.

When the vtension rod 16 is forced upward I ly by the rspring 17 its upper end' will striliel the head 33 and will force'the bars 32 and conical release member 34 upwardly and said members will wedge between and release the hooks 36 from the head 13 and said hooksl and their .suspendingV cable` mayy be wi l drawn and drilling proceeded with. I l

For withdrav-fing the drill from the stein l a special type of fishing tool, as shown in Figure 3, has been provided. This tool com- V prises atubular body 39 havin@ oppositely disposed slots 40, 40 therein, in which the dogs 41, 41 are located, "said dogsY having their lower ends beveled inwardly and the dogs being pivoted on a pintel 42 which is slidable in lengthwise bearings 43 in said The upper ends of the dogs 4 1 are outwardly curvedfand their lower ends have the inside hooks 44, 44 andare outwardly There isa coil spring 45 between the upper ends said dogs 41.

lVhen it is desired tor remove the drill from the stem, said stem should be lifted off of the bottom of the bore Yand the fishing. tool, shown in Figure'3, is let down into the stem byfa suitable cable, or other suspending means, and the lower' ends of thedogs 4l will be spread by the head 13 and when the hooks 44 pass said head they will engage underneath the "head and will be held Lin such engagementrby the kspring 45. I As the fishing tool is! thus lowered, the lower end of the body 39 will contact against the release member 34 and through `it will forcev the head 33 downwardly against the upper end of the rod 16 and said Yrodwill be forced downwardly thereby, placing the spring 17 under compression and carrying the drillv cutters and shanks downwardly relative to the drill stem. The web 9,' acting against the inner edges of said shanls will operate to carry the cutters8, 8 into coinciding, or collapsed position. i -V The enlargement 18 will now be below the dogs 30 and the clutch arms 28 will be released. The fishing tool may now be pulled upwardly, the inwardly beveled lower ends of the dogs 41 being surrounded, and clamped in secure engagement with the head 13, by the lower end of the body 39 and the carrier 5 and its appendants will move upwardly with said iishing tool and the inwardly beveled upper ends ot said clutch arms will be forced inwardly Vby the cor respondingly beveled shoulder' 37, and rew leased from said shoulder and the carrier and drill may be then withdrawn from the stem.

It for any reason it may be desired to reiease the ishing tool from the head 13, while the same is in the stem, the body 39 may be lowered until the pintel 42 rides on the head 13 and the dogs 41 will thereby move upwardly relative to the body 39 and the lower ends of said dogs will be released by the surrounding lower end oli' the body 39, and a section of pipe may then be dropped into the stem 1 over the fishing tool cable and this section of pipe will pass down over the body 39 and will contact against and force inwardly the outwardly curved upper ends of the dogs 41 thus releasing the hooks 44 from the head 13 and will lodge on the external stops 46, 46 on said body and the lishing tool may then be withdrawn.

The drawings and descriptions disclose what is now considered to be the preferred form of the invention by way of illustration only, while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. Drilling apparatus including a tubular drill stem having an inside projection at the lower end thereof, and also having opposing, inside, downwardly iiared, seats in said lower end, a removable carrier in the stem whose lower end rests on said projection, releasable means from which the carrier is suspended, cutters in the carrier, expanding means in the carrier between the cutters, yieldable means in the carrier from which the cutters are suspended, said yieldable means normally operating to release said suspending means from the carrier and to hold said cutters wedged, by said expanding means, in said respective seats.

2. Drilling apparatus including a drill stem, whose lower end is formed with depending shoulders and an inside groove in front of each shoulder, a detachable drill formed to be attached to and detached from the lower end of the stem, releasable means for lowering the drill through the stem,

said detachable drill including a carrier adapted to pass through the stem, cutters mounted in the carrier, a common means in the carrier working between the cutters for expanding them to seat them in said grooves and yieldable means in the carrier connectedv to the cutters effective to normally hold said cutters seated in said grooves and to release said lowering means. Y

3. Drilling apparatus including a tubularv drillstem, a detachable drill formed to be attached to and detached from the lower end of the stem, said drill including a carrier formed to pass through the said stem and to seat in final position, therein, yieldable supporting means in the carrier, cutting devices supported fromsaid supporting means, actuating means in the carrier workf ing between said cutting devices for expanding them into active position and for collapsing them into inactive position, said yieldable supporting means normally acting,

through said actuating means, to maintain said cutting devices yieldingly in expanded, or active, position, means in the carrier engageable with said supporting means and maintained in said engaged position by the stem,while the drill is being lowered through the stern, and effective to hold said cutting devices collapsed, said stem being formed to i release said holding means, from said supporting means, when said carrier is seated in said final position, to permit said yieldable supporting means to actuate said cutting devices into said active position.`

4. Drilling apparatus including a tubular drill stem having an inside support at its lower end and also having opposing inside seats beneath said support, a removable carrier in the stem whose lower end rests on said support, releasable means from which said carrier is suspended, cutters supported bythe carrier, expanding means in the carrier between the cutters, yieldable means from which thecutters are suspended, said yieldable means normally operating to release said `suspending means from the carrier and to hold the cutters wedged, by said expanding means, in said respective seats.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

REDUS D. DODDS. 

